Bali Closely Monitoring Flights From Middle East

Denpasar, Bali, May 9 (Antara) - Bali`s Ngurah Rai airport operator, PT Angkasa Pura I, is paying special attention to flight schedules following the MERS outbreak in the Middle East region. Focus must be placed on monitoring direct flights from the Middle East, Co-General Manager of PT Angkasa Pura I, I Gusti Ngurah Ardita, stated here on Friday. He noted that PT Angakasa Pura has installed thermal scanners at the arrival terminal in cooperation with the airport`s health service. "Passengers or crew having higher than normal body temperature will be checked by the airport health workers," he reported. Until Friday, however, the thermal scanners installed at the international arrival terminal had not yet been operated due to schedules of direct or transit arrivals from the Middle Eastern countries. A patient admitted at the local Sanglah Hospital died after earlier being reported of having the MERS infection. Another 50-year-old patient with the initials AS died after suffering from breathing difficulties, cough, and fever after arriving from a minor Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Bali`s regional health service however later confirmed that AS had tested negative.